Let me tell you about my character(s): L5R edition

I return again after too long a hiatus. I've come to realize that weekly or bi-weekly updating is probably not the best option for me. I go through periods of intense creativity where I want to write, and then I direct my creative efforts elsewhere.

Before our main topic, a quick painting update: all the Wolf Guard (terminators and power armour) are finished along with the Grey Hunters. My terminator Wolf Lord is nearing completion along with my newly wolfified Vindicator and another Rhino. I'll definitely have the Vindicator and Wolf Lord done in the next week as I prepare for a fast approaching tournament. I plan to post a painting report and a tournament summery toward the end of the month.

Anyway, on to the main topic! A while back, I gave a review and overview of The Legend of the Five Rings Role Playing Game. My campaign at the time pettered out due to a number of player drop-outs but this week, the world of Rokugan has made a triumphant return. To begin the campaign, I intend to give a sense of closure to the unfinished tale in the earlier game. Exactly how... I can't say as I don't want my players getting too much of a preview. I'll talk more about the story in a future post; for now, I want to introduce the PCs.

Doji Hitomi is a young but promising Crane Clan courtier. She fits her clan very well and is viewed as a rising star in the court at Kyuden Doji. She is ambitious and values the tenets of honor and courtesy. She is leaving the comforts of the courts for the first time which gives her a much need break from emotional difficulties.

Isawa Hitori is a gifted Shugenja of the Phoenix Clan . He is tied to a bitter marriage and he travels the Empire to avoid is troubles at home. He is less of a pacifist than most in his clan and the Kami of Fire come easily to his call. He seems to be seeking something in his travels though he could not say what it is. He values honesty above all other virtues.

Kitsuki Mikage is an experienced investigator and representative of the Dragon Clan. He is skilled in a wide range of topics from astrology and bonsai to kenjutsu and shogi. He is yet unmarried though he speaks quite highly of his family, at great length if one is not careful. He has been unable to find inner peace for some time and seeks out wine and women to replace it.

Togashi Yamada is a tattooed monk of the Dragon Clan. He has a way with words; one that most would describe as off-putting at best. He began following Mikage without a word and responds only with riddles when asked for his reasons.

Tsuruchi Juri is a brash archer of the Mantis Clan fresh from his Gempuku. His is a skilled hunter and the Air Kami guild his bow.

The characters have been pulled together by Omen, the enigmatic Oracle of Jade. The Oracle bid them to travel to the contested Yasuki provinces. He gave the two pieces of advice: "Let Bushido be your guide," and "The will of the Heavens will be made clear."

Games Summery for Karak XII

I began Saturday with the disadvantage of staying up all night drinking rum with a group of really great Czech guys. They were happy to keep the conversation in English or translate it for me and it went a long way to making me feel welcom. I had only two hours of sleep before my fist game at 9 in the morning. My focus got progressively worse throughout the day.

My first game was against shooty orks with Wazdakka, lots of bikes and deffkoptas in an Annihilation mission. It was a bad match up for him, I was able to crush his bikes and nobs (in trukks) in assault. Named characters were worth an extra kill point in this mission. The Redeemer's Flamestorm cannons also assisted in burning down the bikes. I scored 18 out of 20 battle points pushing me close to the top tables.

My second game was a much more difficult match up against Imperial Guard. We played Capture and Control (aptly named "roll dice and tie" by The 11th Company). He was using veterans in Vendettas (though only two of them), a large infantry platoon, a psyker battle squad in a Chimera and three Leman Russ varients including Pask. He set up his tanks at the back of the deployment zone and bubble-wrapped them with his infantry to prevent my scouts from assaulting. I tried to push forward but couldn't get close enough to contest his objectives. He managed to kill most of the units I sent forward. My crowning moment of the game was assaulting his parking lot with my scouts. The turn before they came in, he moved one of his tanks (the Chimera with the psykers) out of position. I left just enough room for my scouts to come in and destroy his Russes (including Pask). As per the name of the mission, we ended up with a tie.

My third game was against Toshiro (Martin Szolár) of the Czech ETC team. He was playing Blood Angels and our mission was seize ground with dawn of war deployment. His army included two units of terminators with sanguinary priests in Redeemers, two 10 man units of assault marines, and a librarian. We set up the objectives along the center line of the table and both tried to push to control them. I made several early game mistakes which Martin took advantage of and he won the game 15:5. It would have been a 18:2 victory if not for a couple of fluke dice rolls. Overall, I'd say it was my favorite game of the weekend.

I went to sleep fairly early Saturday so I would be rested for my Sunday games. The first game was against a Tau suit list. The mission was Capture and Control again with an additional objective in the center of the table worth 2 points. My scouts came in on turn 2 and assaulted one of the broadside squads. I beat them in combat and they ran off the back of the table. They were shot to death the next turn. The rest of the game involved me seeing how far across the table I could get before being shot to death. It really underscored the need to put extra-armour on my Land Raider to keep in moving. The game ended in a draw.

The final mission was unique to the tournament. There were 4 objectives, 2 placed by each player. At the end of each turn, you scored one point for each objective you controlled. I played against an Eldar player. He took 3 Vypers with Shuriken Cannons, 2 Wraith Lords, 2 units of Jetbikes, Dire Avengers and Fire Dragons in Wave Serpents, a Fire Prism, and a Farseer on a Jetbike with guide and fortune. I had the first turn and pulled ahead early, taking one of his objectives on my turn two. Unfortunately, I got careless in turn 3 and left Grey Hunters in two squads in charge range of his Wraith Lords; I got pulled of my objectives and he moved in with his Jetbikes. At the end of turn 5, the game was tied but he was up by 2 points by the end of the game after turn 6. My opponent was really great and it was a hard call between him and Toshiro for my favorite game of the weekend.

I came in 27th place for combat points (which I'm pretty happy with). My overall score wasn't as good since my army wasn't fully painted. I'm really looking forward to playing in more Czech tournaments. In fact, I have another one this weekend (4 games, 1500 points). It's a one day tournament at one of the local game stores. (Černý Rytíř) My list is now fully painted and based so I expect to do quite well in my overall score. Again, my goal is to win half my games. I'll let you know how it goes.

My next post won't be so Warhammer focus; I plan to write about L5R RPG after I run game this weekend.

Edit: I also need to credit my wife for all the photos of my miniatures. I'm terrible with a camera so I need to thank her for the good photographs.

Karak XII: Chaos Incursion

Last weekend, I went to my first Warhammer 40,000 tournament. I've heard a lot about the tournament environment both from other blogs and in podcasts so I was a little apprehensive going in. I've never been a very competitive player since I've focused more on the hobby and collection aspect of the game.

Karak XII is one of the biggest tournaments in the Czech Republic. It is held annually in Hradec Kralove. This year, there were about 60 participants. It is a two day, five game tournament with a variety of missions, mostly out of the rule book. The rounds are incredible relaxes, they simple lasted until all the games were finished. Armies are 1750 points. For painting requirements, players had to have one unit painted from each force organization type present in the army list.

One of the really interesting things about the Czech Warhammer community is that Forge World models and lists are accepted in the tournament environment (excluding flyers and super heavies). I saw both Vraksian Renegadess and Death Korps of Krieg armies. I also saw Forge World models included in Sister of Battle and Orks. Players who used Forge World models were required to have fully painted armies.

Additionally, the tournament was not overrun by Imperial Guard and Space Wolves. For the most part, Czechs have army loyalty which used to be more common in 2nd and 3rd edition. There were even three Necrons, two Dark Angels, and a Black Templar player. The only army book not represented was the Demon Hunters.

Another difference from what seems to be the standard in US tournaments was the terrain. All the tables had 25% coverage or more including large, line-of-sight-blocking structures, often in the center of the table. They had modular city blocks spread out across the tables and the Fortress of Redemption on one of the top tables.

The weekend was amazing!

I played five great games against a wide variety of armies and met a lot of really great people who I hope to play with in the future. I need to thank Watchdog for all the help he gave me getting to the tournament and translating for me when needed. (The Czech gaming community primarily uses their gamer handles.) I'd also like to thank all of my opponents for using English and putting up with my lack of Czech. I really appreciated it.

Now, a little bit about this tournament. The entry fee was quite low compared to American standards; less than $10 if you preregistered. This fee also included a place to stay if you brought your own sleeping bag making the whole weekend extremely affordable. Many people arrived Friday night and everyone pitched in to help the TOs set up tables. Afterwards a few friendly games were played. I tested my Space Wolves against a mixed CSM list in a Capture and Control mission and ended up with a draw. Following that game, I play a very light hearted 'FPS style', multiplayer version of 40k called Fraghammer (more on this to come).


My list included a large hammer unit consisting of a Wolf Lord and Wolf Guard in terminator armour mounted in a land Raider Redeemer. For troops, I took a large unit of Grey Hunters in a Rhino, a small unit in a Razorback, and two small units on foot. I attached a Rune Priest to the unit in the Rhino. I took a unit of Wolf Scouts and a mixed unit of Long Fangs to fill out the list.

I was quite please with my results as it was my first tournament. My record was 1/2/2 and I scored a total of 51 battle points (out of a possible 100). I came in 27th place for battle points and 38th overall because my army was not yet entirely painted.

More to come on this tournament in my next post including a summery of my games and more on Fraghammer.